Respect-Honor-Gratitude for Veterans

I am and have been a civilian employee at APG for the past 29 years, I am participating in a Leadership Program based out of Alexandria, VA called Landmark Worldwide.  In this program I am required to create a community project and I feel who better deserving of a community program are our local veterans and soldiers.  They have risked their lives, left their homes and families to fight for our freedom and they deserve so much more than they are getting when they return home from tours of duty.  So, all of the money being raised from this event will go to support the Elkton Veterans Center in Elkton, MD which also includes the Aberdeen, MD branch and the Salisbury, MD branch.   My goal is to help local soldiers/veterans integrating back into the everyday life that they left behind in order to go out and fight for our country. Some need time to search for a job and understand what it's like to be a civilian again; and others need support coping with day to day activities.  I want this money to help them live a happy, healthy, and safe life as an American citizen again. I also want this money to help support the continued work being done for those suffering from PTSD and maybe it can help eliminate some of the stigma that goes along with "mental health" today and help reduce the growing number of suicides among soldiers and veterans. With this project, I see a possibility of happy and healthy soldiers/veterans contributing to their communities again.